I have not visited the Wolds Top before and, from what I can see after studying Google Maps, I can drive very close to the summit itself.
I am assuming access to the fields is restricted due to the nearby radar station, plus I don’t see any obvious public access into the field. I was planning to park in one of the laybys near the radar station and operate from there.
Perhaps somebody can tell me if this qualifies as an activation on this particular summit or must I try to gain access to the field? The laybys are only a stone’s throw away from the summit and I can probably get my aerials higher than that anyway.
I have just received an email with some useful information regarding G/TW-005. Much appreciated. I did not know that this summit was so far off the road itself.
It is dark in the early evening at this time of year so I would leave the any hillwalking for the lighter nights. I had assumed I could access the summit by car and park on or very close to the top. I am never keen to approach somebody regarding using their private property.
As for summits and driving? Surely there is nothing wrong with operating from the car if the car can access the actual summit itself. My partner Jane, M6VVP, is disabled and cannot walk too far, so this seemed an ideal opportunity to introduce her to SOTA.
I am still learning the ropes regarding SOTA and have only activated one summit last year. Maybe I have this wrong, but has an activation always to be done on foot?
I have just received an email with some useful information regarding G/TW-005. Much appreciated. I did not know that this summit was so far off the road itself.
It is dark in the early evening at this time of year so I would leave the any hillwalking for the lighter nights. I had assumed I could access the summit by car and park on or very close to the top. I am never keen to approach somebody regarding using their private property.
As for summits and driving? Surely there is nothing wrong with operating from the car if the car can access the actual summit itself. My partner Jane, M6VVP, is disabled and cannot walk too far, so this seemed an ideal opportunity to introduce her to SOTA.
I am still learning the ropes regarding SOTA and have only activated one summit last year. Maybe I have this wrong, but has an activation always to be done on foot?
Hi, John. Operating from a car or its immediate vicinity is forbidden under the rules. To find the current rules left click on the SOTA website heading at the top of the page, then click on rules and guidelines, select the English version and you will find it under rule 3.7.1.3.
With regard to Jane, the MT has discussed access for disabled people, and on application are prepared to issue a waiver permitting a disabled person to operate from the vicinity of motorised transport or use a powered trike etc, although this waiver will not apply to any able-bodied companions, and the rules regarding the activation zone will still apply.
In the rare case where a road runs through the AZ and access to the summit is forbidden, it is permitted to operate from the road but activators are expected to set up as far from the car as is practicable.
I hope this helps but don’t hesitate to ask if you are not sure about anything.
Not sure why my posts are appearing several times, nor why there are two threads with the same subject.
Fully understood on the operation from a car - something I had clearly overlooked. My activation last year was on foot at the trig point so everything was within the rules.
I will scrub this weekends activation and wait for warmer weather.
Yes, the Normanby Wold’s Top is not much of a ‘high’ spot, but it’s the highest thing around this part of the world - and I am very glad of that. VHF reception at the east coast is generally superb thanks to the land being mostly flat around us. The Wolds are a useful point from which to DX, but we miss the Peak District now we have moved to this part of the world. I anticipate some good DX on 2 and 70 once the summer arrives.
When you hit the post reply button having typed in your comment, you wont see what you just typed, but the last comment you were replying to. At this point people press their browser’s reload button. Firefox warns that the last data sent will be resent, I don’t know what less correct browsers do. This causes the last post they made to be posted again. The poster now sees the thread stopping with their comment and they are happy. They are unaware that there is a duplicate post that has not been displayed. If you were to visit a different page and then come back you would see the latest post which is a duplicate of the previous.
Solution: after posting a reply don’t hit reload. Also someone from the MT will clean up if you do it and don’t realise. If you do spot it then you can delete it yourself. It’s not a big issue as it will get cleaned up eventually.
I always hoped that TW-005 would be a particularly good spot, not because of the height ASL, but because so much of the land to the SE/S/SW is much lower and barely ASL! I will probably go out and do a little bit of 2m DXing from the road tomorrow instead, probably just FM, but I will give SSB a try first. Time around 17:30.
In the rare case where a road runs through the AZ and access to the summit is forbidden, it is permitted to operate from the road but activators are expected to set up as far from the car as is practicable.
Brian,
As far as practicable could technically be as far as you can walk - a minimum distance never was set even though a few of us thought it was a good idea to provide a definite distance to avoid arguement. It has been an issue in the past as you know.
John,
With regards to TW-005, it is easy to park on the grass verge and walk along the road to operate in a defunct gateway - Phil G4OBK’s notes accessed from the summit page give the relevant information. Operating near the “Golf Ball” isn’t a good idea and access to the trig in the field is definitely across private farmland. The take-off isn’t as bad as some people would make out.
As far as practicable could technically be as far as you can walk - a
minimum distance never was set even though a few of us thought it was
a good idea to provide a definite distance to avoid arguement. It has
been an issue in the past as you know.
Its more complex than that, Gerald. It will depend on where the boundary of the AZ is, and how the road is constructed: if there are roomy grass verges then you can look for a spot that suits you, but no verge, just a ditch and a hedge, and your choices are much more limited. If all that is available is a layby, then you would have to settle for it, but set up as far from the car as is practicable. It is this unpredictability that makes a minimum distance rule impracticable, SOTA runs on trust and we trust activators to make the best that they can of such a situation in the spirit of the program. Of course there is an alternative, we could have a minimum distance rule, and if this cannot be conformed to then the summit is removed from the program: I imagine this might satisfy a purist, but it would require that the AM visits each summit and determines whether or not it can be activated under the rules, and the visits should probably be repeated at regular intervals since while the summits don’t change the works of mankind do. On the whole I prefer the status quo.
My entirely arbitrary personal “rule” is a minimum of 100m from the car (and ideally not within sight of it). In the case of TW005, the footpath to the north of the summit runs through the AZ - and that was where I operated. There are lots of places that one can activate Bishop Wilton Wold and be well away from your car if you so desire. Again, my personal perference is not to do roadside activations.
My entirely arbitrary personal “rule” is a minimum of 100m
from the car (and ideally not within sight of it). In the case of
TW005, the footpath to the north of the summit runs through the AZ -
and that was where I operated. There are lots of places that one can
activate Bishop Wilton Wold and be well away from your car if you so
desire.
My interpretation of the rules has been the same as yours, Rich. I think a minimum of 100m is a reasonable guideline. Contrary to what G8ADD infers, I can see nothing in the rules that mandates operation from the true summit “except if access to it is forbidden”. I have always understood that an activation from anywhere within the Activation Zone is valid, whether or not the true summit is accessible. Some activators, through personal preference, always operate from the trig point … but that is their choice. It is not mandatory.
Again, my personal preference is not to do roadside
activations.
Indeed! If only to reduce the possibility of unwelcome “visitors”! (Such as the yobs with shotguns who took pot-shots at my SOTA-pole when I was operating in a gateway at Wendover Woods.)
It’s surprising how many summits there are where the trig is not the
actual true summit Walt
Indeed. The trig point is very often at the location with the most expansive views, though. Well, where there used to be the most expansive views before the forest grew, or whatever, anyway…
It’s surprising how many summits there are where the trig is not the
actual true summit Walt
Quite so, Roger! That applies to my favourite local summit, G/WB-022. The trig point is about a quarter of a mile from the true summit, which is a few feet higher than the trig. As it happens, I usually operate from the true summit.
